Tell Me A Story

“The God of the message is infinite, but the text of the message is finite.” This is a mantra I rehearse with my students every semester. Then I continue, “We know exactly how many sentences, words, and letters there are in the Bible, so of all the possible stories that could have been included, why those particular few?” (For example, why do we have basically only the last 10% of Jesus’ life to read? Did he not have an adolescence?)

This typically leads us into a discussion about the purposes of a passage of Scripture and getting into the “mind of the author” and, ultimately, God’s agenda: What message was God intending to communicate? While this is only one component of doing biblical interpretation (others include, for example, retelling biblical stories from the perspective of a certain community), it is an important component and one that most seminary-trained Bible readers will be familiar with.

Telling story is powerful because it communicates the author’s agenda but in a way that resonates with readers’ experiences and tugs at readers’ hearts. Telling story is an art that, I imagine, was an integral part of our ancestral heritages but something we’ve lost, having been socialized in our rational, Western institutions where the linear and argumentative reign.

An AAWOL blog reader recently emailed requesting written or video resources related to Asian American women. Several of us pooled together our lists and were discouraged to find that the list was shorter than we’d hoped. There just isn’t much published material on or about Asian American women, let alone AAW leadership.

So the AAWOL blog is starting a new series: Author’s Corner! We hope that by highlighting the stories of evangelical Asian American women, we can inspire other AAWs to write their stories and grow this list. So be on the lookout for our first Author’s Corner entry and be sure to send us your recommendations for the Author’s Corner as well.

Also, here’s one HUGE note: remember that as consumers, we yield great power in the eyes of publishers. When we buy the works of fellow Asian American women writers rather than loan the works to each other (this is not the time to practice frugality!), we communicate to publishers, “There is a market for these stories.” So purchase away!!

Awesome! You go, Debbie! What about also putting together a short documentary or even a collage of video interviews of AAW leaders to encourage our next generation of AAW? Something simple but visual for our Y gens? =) Just a thought!

I love that idea, Angela! I confess, however, that while I’m pretty good at post-production, I’m not as experienced at gathering actual video footage….Care to share any tips, steps, or how-to-starts?….or Interested (Angela, or anyone else) in collaborating on a project like this?